Lipstick
by slacktension
Summary: At fourteen, Tenzin tries to be the voice of reason, and ends up drinking for the first time with his siblings, the princess of the Fire Nation, and Lin.


Summer vacations to the Fire Nation palace always inspired the worst behavior in every one of the children, even if they were discreet about it. Tenzin dreaded every night when he would awake to bright giggles in the dark, hushed voices, and then the telltale crash, or shout, or thump that would indicate some new scheme. He would sit up to find that his brother and male cousins had left the room, rumpled red blankets shoved to the ends of their thin mattresses tossed on the floor, and he would sigh.

Then, he would get up and stumble through the dark with the intention to put a stop to whatever madness they had planned, only to get roped into the fun along the way.

That night, they had started earlier. The adults were crowded in the dining hall for late night tea, which, based on the loud shouting from Uncle Sokka, had been laced with something a bit stronger than their favorite jasmine blend. Tenzin could hear them from the back entrance of the palace, leaning against the heavy red curtains that were pulled aside to draw in the warm night breeze. The garden before him was bathed in pale light from the full moon, casting everything in the same shade of bluish white, long black shadows spilling across the soft grass. It looked remarkably calm and peaceful, a stark comparison to the shrieking laughter echoing off the ruddy marble walls from the hall.

At least, it had been a nice comparison, until a similar laugh resounded from the garden, and Tenzin was startled from his musings. He waited, trying to see if the sound would return and-his older sister's laugh once again rose out from along the right wall of the garden.

Feeling that he should intervene and be the voice of reason, he stepped off of the palace porch and into the garden. As he made his way closer to the large wall of bushes pressed against the wall, where he was sure the laughter had come from, a chorus of shushing erupted from the branches. Tenzin froze, giving them a moment to lull themselves into a false sense of security, and waited until he was sure he heard a sigh of relief. He then quietly stalked to the bush, and sharply popped his head behind it.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

Instantly, his two older siblings, the Fire Nation princess, and Lin scrambled to hide something behind their backs, guilt written across each of their faces. They quickly recovered when they saw it was Tenzin, and their expressions turned sour at his trickery. The fact that they were trying to act as if they weren't in the wrong, sitting in a circle behind a bush in the middle of the night, almost made him want to laugh. _Almost_, if they weren't so frustrating and ridiculous.

"Spirits, Tenzin!" Kya hissed, and he noticed that a small tea cup was in her hand, filled with a clear liquid. "I thought you were Dad!"

He frowned, because he was still getting used to the tattoos he had received three weeks prior to their trip. His eyes rested on his brother, who still held his hands behind his back. "What are you hiding?"

Bumi glanced at his sister and the princess-upon receiving shrugs, he pulled out a dark glass bottle. The label had been hastily ripped off, the white paper residue cutting across the body like two scars.

"Where did you get that?" Tenzin hissed with a hysterical tilt to his voice.

"Do you ever stop asking questions?" the princess asked, rolling her eyes. "Use your brain."

"_You_ stole it?"

She tilted her chin high in the air, tone dripping with every ounce of haughtiness at her disposal. "It's not theft if it came from my house."

Suddenly, Lin snorted. "You call that a house? It's not known as the Fire Nation Palace for nothing, honey."

"Well, if you didn't steal it, I guess I'll just tell your parents-"

"You wouldn't."

"I would."

Bumi laughed and stuck the bottle in the middle of the group, digging the base about an inch into the soft ground. "Aw, he's just mad that we didn't invite him. C'mon and join us, Tenzin."

"What? No, I'm not supposed to-well, _you__'__re_ not supposed to either, but I'm _especially_ not supposed to drink. Ever," he replied, all pretenses of being responsible and superior gone. In truth, he was upset that they didn't invite him, even if he would have declined the offer. Or at least, they could have allowed him to sit with them.

"Aw, it's not like Dad hasn't slipped up before," Bumi said with his wide, slightly manic grin. "You've heard stories about their wedding."

"Father has only ever had a drink because Uncle Sokka and Aunt Toph put stuff into his tea," Tenzin replied, but his conviction was weak. He was sure he had heard his father laughing louder than normal back at the dining hall. He couldn't have been that oblivious, could he?

"Let him go," the princess said, rolling her eyes. "I don't have any more cups, anyway."

"_Fine_, I'll leave you all alone."

Disheartened, he lifted his foot to leave, only to find that he couldn't. Looking down, he found that the ground had moulded around his feet and locked him in place. He quickly looked down at Lin to make her free him, but suddenly, her small, rough hand closed around his wrist and forced him to sit down next to her.

"Baldy and I can share," she said lightly, shoving her cup in his face.

Bewildered and blushing, he took it.

"Ohhh, Lin wants her _boyfriend_ to stay," Kya teased.

Lin's eyes narrowed to fine slits, nostrils flaring, and suddenly the bottle of liquor sunk into the ground. The grass above it lay undisturbed as if it had never existed, and the three older teens shouted in despair.

"Bring it back, Lin, I was only kidding!"

With a snort and a wave of her hand, the bottle reappeared, and Bumi's hand shot out to cradle it safely in his lap. "Maybe I just want to see Baldy get drunk," she snapped.

All eyes were turned to Tenzin, each holding a mischievous gleam shining brightly against the moonlight, sparkling out from the shadows of their eyelids. Summer turned his siblings and friends into evil spirits, he was sure of it. The only one that ever retained any form of self control, of _normalcy_, was Lin.

He looked down at her, and nothing about her changed at night. The pale light was the same shade as her skin, the dark shadows the same inky black as her hair, cutting sharp angles under her high cheekbones. Then there was that dangerous edge to her smile, even more exciting as she had started wearing lipstick; as if he needed his eyes to be drawn to that particular spot more than they already were. That pink line pulled a little wider across her face, eyes widening the slightest touch with that knowing, giddy kind of look she always got just before raising a rock wall for him to slam into.

He finally noticed just how hard his heart was beating and he realized far too late that she felt it.

"It won't _kill_ you, Tenzin," Bumi said, shaking his younger brother from his thoughts.

Tenzin shakily sighed and tilted the cup, catching the faint mark of pink lipstick stuck to the rim, and hoped that Lin didn't notice how he purposefully closed his mouth around that particular section.

He found, unsurprisingly, that he didn't like drinking. The liquid had seemed innocent enough, lacking a smell and color, but it burned all the way down his throat into his stomach. Of course the way the princess knocked back her drinks made sense; apparently, Fire Nation liquor, like firebending, came from the stomach. The drink made him sputter and cough, and Lin's palm slapped him on the back and gripped his arm to make sure he lived through the traumatizing ordeal.

Everybody was laughing at him, and his face was hot with embarrassment. He nearly stood to leave when he felt Lin's fingers brush against his own to reclaim the cup. Bumi refilled it and she sat back with contentment, looking over at Tenzin with a smile that held unprecedented affection.

"We'll take it slow from now on," she said with a laugh, taking a sip from the cup before handing it back off to him.

He took the cup once more, finding no reason to reject it this time. She looked so in control and relaxed in this situation, where they were breaking the rules, where they could get caught and grounded, where his heart raced a mile a minute because of those looming threats and because she _wanted_ him to stay. He bit down on his liquor soaked tongue and swallowed, his saliva mixing with the remnants of the drink and burning back down his throat, but not in a way that was wholly unpleasant. Exciting, maybe. Thrilling in a way that gave him a sense of what it was like to behave like her, unafraid of consequences and ignoring the rules.

He noticed her long, pale fingers tapping against her bent knee, following the same beat of his racing pulse. He took another sip, tongue flicking over the waxy residue of pink lipstick left on the warmed porcelain rim, and his heart beat faster.


End file.
